An Apology To Lane, Diane, and the World At Large

Let's see: thus far, I have Lane Core, Jr, asking for an apology; Diane asking for an apology on behalf of the entire forum; and an Inbox filled with both vitriolic and "attaboy" email.

Let's take these one at a time.

Lane,

One of the things that you miss is that much of what I write is SATIRE. 'Yumor.

(Actually, most Doomlits -- D. Scott Secor over in CSY2K is one of the few exceptions -- have no sense of humor when it comes to Y2K, so you're not alone.)

I am the Rush Limbaugh of Y2K; I shine the light of truth on ignorance and have fun while I do it.

If I have offended you, of COURSE I apologize here and now. Publicly. That wasn't my intent.

(I can't resist: given that the entire utilities thing was a fiction, though, I should think that merely explaining it as such would also cause anyone with an IQ greater than their shoe size to realize that my reference to YOU was probably also a bit skewed, but hey; what do I know?)

But, there you go: I apologize.

Diane,

I also apologize to you for using the forum in the manner that I did. Believe it or not, I have nothing against you or this forum; you simply won the toss of the coin. I had considered posting it in CSY2K, fully knowing that once Milne picked up on it -- as, predictably, he did -- a@a.a would probably have cross-posted it here anyway. Perhaps I should have done that, not that the end result would have mattered a great deal. :)

On the experiment itself and the vitriolic/attaboy email in general:

This was not a lark or a Lone Wolf Oneshot. Those few paragraphs were a month in the making. Further, I had the help of several other people (some of whom, incidentally, work in utilities, and who thought it was the grandest joke they'd seen in a while). Solely to protect them from that same vitriol, they shall remain nameless.

The groundrules were inviolable: it would contain deliberate, easy-to-identify errors to mark it as a hoax to anyone willing to do a mere Web search on the VRZ number, if nothing else. It would not contain any specifics. Further, I emailed copies, prior to posting it publicly, to dozens of others with a clear warning: this is a hoax. Help me "out" this thing in the unlikely event that it should spin out of control (which I highly doubted, but I didn't want to take any chances).

And -- most importantly -- I would release it immediately prior to the most recent edition of State of Y2K, and immediately "out" it (and myself) a few days afterward. The thing was released with a self-contained death warrant; it would only "live" for a few days at most.

I don't think you realize the depth of the disgust which exists on the part of some people (particularly the aforementioned friends in utility work) toward places like this forum ... and especially toward self-appointed authorities like Lane, Rick Cowles, Roleigh Martin and Gary North. I had to keep THAT out of it, too. They wanted me to make the tale MORE realistic and then rub noses in it with gay abandon after the "outing." I refused to do it. I had a fixed point to make -- and I made it in spades.

No one will touch that well-made point (just as no one seems willing to address the FACT that Win95.CIH "Chernobyl" hammered hundreds of thousands of computer systems in Asia on April 27 ... with minimal disruption overall; but that's another digression).

It's much easier just to attack me, isn't it? :)

(Can anyone here say, "I'm a hypocrite?")

I decided that the point made was worth the opprobrium which I KNEW I'd receive, because it begs the question: how many of the "insider's stories" which have appeared here and elsewhere were written by bored trolls?

That point has been made, and I've cause more than a few Doomlits to begin thinking again (as witness some of my email). Y2K is RIFE with Urban (and Seaborne, if you're into the Coast Guard) Legends -- some of which HAVE EVEN MADE IT INTO CONGRESSIONAL TESTIMONY IN SPITE OF THE FACT THAT THEY'RE COMPLETE FICTION.

If you people would be honest with yourselves, you'd admit that the REAL source of your malaise is that I am being proven right with each passing day -- and you are being proven WRONG (I apologize for pointing THAT fact out, too, but it needs to be pointed out).

Nothing really bad happened on July 1st. Some of you were secretly hoping that it would, too, weren't you? Nothing bad happened on April 1st or February 4 or January 1, either. The Jo Anne Effect is a complete bust.

THAT is what drives you crazy, not moi in specific, people. But instead of admitting it to yourselves, you take your frustrations out on the nearest convenient target, be it me, CPR, the Debunking Y2K Webboard, or who/whatever else is the appointed Target Of The Week.

But I do apologize for using this forum as I did and I shan't appear here again. Be well.

That's your idea of an apology? It sucks! It's no apology at all,
merely an attempt to continue to justify a despicable act which you
still feel no remorse for. If I were the judge in a case against you
I would stare you right in the eye as I read you the riot act and
sent you off to cool your heels in the pokey. You show no redeeming
values at all. You show no concern for truth, honesty, morality or
ethics. You are bottom of the barrel trash, and seem proud of it. It
is the grossly dishonest acts of people like you, and those that were
in collusion with you on this, that turns the rest of us against you.
It is nothing less than a psychopathic disregard for rules of any
kind. You can't argue the issue on it's merits, so you resort to lies
and deception. I knew you were misleading people about the whole Y2k
scenario, I just never knew how low you would stoop to try to win
some rediculous point. You are not a Christian, and should remove any
reference to Christian principle from your sick web site.

My sincere intent had been to read this and thank you for being man
enough to apologize. But this isn't an apology, just more empty
gloating. I'll let others draw the obvious extra conclusion implied
above.

You're still a liar. No one can ever believe anything you say again.
The fact that your WWW site consists of smears and innuendoes, without
any actual facts to back up your "no big problem" stance, could be
passed off as a mere difference of opinion. But perpetrating a
deliberate hoax puts you into the illustrious company of the daytime
trash TV shows that pre-arrange their guest "confrontations",
journalists that fabricate stories to win prizes, and other similar
giants of the journalistic craft. When the Y2K story is finally over,
yours will be at the top of the list of weasels, liars, and lunatics
who inhabit the "Y2K Bunk Board". What a glorious legacy you leave!

let me summarize here: we have one poster, a self-appointed expert on embedded systems and electronic control in general based on his commercial knowlegde of systems by working in the broadcast industry. He deliberately attempts to create a fraudulent story - and it takes "a month" of specific, directed effort to create that story.

Further, he KNOWS that the fraud will have a "lifetime" of no more than "a few days" before it is proven to be a lie.

Okay - the story got posted, and it was determined to be a lie almost immediately. Sounds like the accumulated knowledge base here works pretty good.

This means that of 145,000 odd posts by many thousand anonymous users (and a few live ones!) - one was a lie. And that one was found out very quickly. And that ONE LIE was determined to be a lie independently, and the news was spread quickly to other readers.

Which "proves" that the remaining 144,999 stories, antedotes, and reports are true.

No asshole, I wouldn't have re-posted it. If you had half a brain,
you would see that I don't post every syllable that rolls off Milne's
keyboard; just the ones that are DOCUMENTED with EVIDENCE of y2k
disasters in the making, usually in the form of URLs from major news
organizations. Furthermore, your original post did not fool me for
minute, as it lacked the ring of truth. It came off as just another
troll playing under the bridge. Sort of like Decker's posts.

But by all means continue having fun playing your little game you
little prick, in a few months you will find that the joke's on you.

You assume that I bought into your thread like a bluegill biting into
bait. But the truth is I haven't yet come across a thread that made
me exclaim "oh no! we're doomed!". Nor has there been a thread that
makes me exclaim "whew, thank goodness we'll all be fine". So don't
lump me up into the rest of your "journalistic expiriment" data just
yet.

The truth is out there somewhere but people like me won't get it
until long after January 1, 2000. So until then I don't assume to
know the future.

Stephen, you lied, plain and simple. What you hoped to do was to
prove how nuts everyone has become over Y2K. Well so what? Maybe
some people are born over sensitive or maybe even gullible. So
what? Is it your intention to start a new aryan race that weeds out
those inferior qualities in humans? Maybe your little "expiriment"
was more data for CPR's FBI list. Hmmm?

Well anyway your a treacherous soul. Any man who deliberatly uses
deception in a public environment should be looked upon with disgust
and disdain. Are you so callous as to believe that what you did was
just "a little white lie"? You talked about your conscience, both on
your web page and on the original hoax thread. And yet you admit you
spent much energy on planning the hoax so that it was believable.

And THEN you turn around and nod your head in affirmation; "YEP,
those nutty doomers sure are gullible, they'll believe anything you
tell them".

I didn't believe what you posted in your hoax thread and I sure don't
believe what you wrote above about being sorry.

Face it Stephen, your just not believable anymore. You muddied your
own character and I KNOW you don't care. You won't be back to the
TB2000 forum. You had your fun, you proved your point that some
people aren't as savy about the world in general as some others. Now
you can live your smug little life and tell all your acedemia cronies
what a gas it was to play God, though just for a day.

But your never going to be a leader Cess Pool. You just don't have
what it takes. I know people will never follow you, nor take your
opinion very deeply in regards. Because your associates, "friends",
co-workers and peers will never trust anyone but themselves much less
an unhappy little man like yourself. And the people here at the
forum, and people like us in the world, will never trust you long
enough to follow you because you willingly burn your bridges before
you cross them.

Your a typical meglomaniac and sociopath. Maybe next time you can
toss a lit Molotov cocktail into a crowded bus and watch how the
people panic like sheep. After all that was your point right?
Proving what a swell guy Stephen Poole is and how utterly stupid and
gullible "they" are. Misplaced aggression you say? No, I think this
time it was placed exactly where it should be placed, you blathering
sociopath, right on your shoulders. Don't think you can always
wriggle out of guilt and responsibility with a quick apology right
before you slink away into the shadows. Sorry my friend, but as my
father always says, you never ever get away with anything .

You say your a Christian? Yeah sure bubby, whatever.

Got scruples?

(PS: "Let he among you that is without sin cast the first stone"

Sorry to burst your "holier than thou" bubble, but, I'm not a
Christian. I'll damn well cast the first stone and make it count)

Poole, your 'apology' lacks contrition and remorse. I can almost
hear you chortle as I scroll through the boasting.

Keep practicing, Poole. Keep practicing your apology, OK? You will
certainly need it, when one day, you *will* find yourself in front of
your Maker. You *will* need to be able to reconcile what you did (as
a self-proclaimed Christian, no less), and 'justify' your actions to
Him much better (and with way more conviction) than you have for us
in this post.

You'll have to come up with something better than what you gave us.

Keep practicing. Somehow, I believe God is *not* amused by such
antics.

If you people would be honest with yourselves, you'd admit that the
REAL source of your malaise is that I am being proven right with each
passing day -- and you are being proven WRONG (I apologize for
pointing THAT fact out, too, but it needs to be pointed out).

Nothing really bad happened on July 1st. Some of you were secretly
hoping that it would, too, weren't you? Nothing bad happened on April
1st or February 4 or January 1, either. The Jo Anne Effect is a
complete bust.

Sue - that was my point up above: a "credible lie" is very difficult to create and maintain. An "incredible truth" - such as what "midwestern mike" reported about the y2k reporting problems and potenital coverup on Thursday last week - takes only minutes to type down. And the "incredible truth" remains a telling lesson.

As does this lesson. There are 145,000 lessons in this forum - one has been shown to be that false stories are quickly discovered.

Also - that one false story - no matter how spun - does not invalidate the training in the remainder.

Your elitism surpases even that of Bill CLinton and the other Liberal
Socialists running us into the Grave. I guess if you can't beat 'em
join 'em eh Poole?

Comparing yourself to Limbaugh is one of the greatest bits of hubris
I've ever heard, and second only to the Presidents finger waving
apology for the Monica scandal. You shine NO light on anything Poole
except your own self-importance. You sir are not fit to be mentioned
in the same sentence with Rush.

You are an arrogant asshole filled with yourself and you deserve no
acceptance of your so-called "apology" from anyone.

You sir do what you say you hate, you DO the things you accuse
"doomers" of doing and exalt yourself for your wit and cunning.

You are an elitist piece of shit. Conservative or not (I doubt it),
you share the same camp with all liars and tyrants in my book.

You should work for Gore's campaign. I hear they need a good sheister
to make shit up on George W.

It would be nice if Mr. Poole were to document some of those
"fictions" he claims made it into congressional testimony. I don't
doubt that at least a few have crept in, but I'd like to know which
ones they were, specifically, and see the documentation. Unsupported
generalizations are useless here.

Mr. Poole challenges Rick Cowles's credentials and knowledge. Again,
documented support is needed here. Mr. Poole is an electrical
technician--certified, of course. My (admittedly outsider)
understanding is that such a position is rather low on the food chain.
Mr. Cowles, on the other hand, has 22 years of experience in the
electric power industry (from plant floor to boardroom, as he likes to
say); was Y2K director for Digital Equipment; was a director of
embedded systems research for TAVA; etc. And Cowles did see through
Poole's unconscionable hoax immediately. Certainly at first blush it
would appear that Mr. Cowles's credentials beat those of Mr. Poole all
hollow. One might have to concede the bigger ego to Mr. Poole,
though. (That's OK, he once pretended in one of his little
newsletters to know more about economics than did either the Princeton
Economics Institute or Dr. Ed Yardeni. The training for electrical
technicians these days must be a wonder to behold. For the greater
glory of God, no doubt.)

Finally, Mr. Poole and his assorted disgruntled friends in the power
industry might like to challenge the research of TAVA and ABB. Again,
documented refutations of TAVA and ABB findings would be most
appreciated; I'm always looking for good Y2K news where the power
industry is concerned. Argument by assertion (a logical fallacy that
Mr. Poole seems inordinately fond of) doesn't cut it. Neither do
malicious hoaxes.

P.S. For those who missed the June 30th Bloomberg News story, check
out the thread entitled "Tava/Beck Outages Quote Accurate." Note what
Cameron Daley, chief operating officer of TAVA, is saying; note, too,
that TAVA has worked with over 100 U.S. electric utilities on their
embedded systems. (TAVA is also doing embedded systems remediation
for GM, among several other giant American corporations; I had the
chance to see some of their statistical findings last August.) As for
ABB and the report prepared some months ago by Dr. Klaus Ragaller, see
my thread "ABB Report," which probably is now in the archives under
power industry or whatever.

"I'm anything but a utilities expert. But by visiting a few Web sites
and spending about an hour familiarizing myself with the subject, I
was able to learn enough of the lingo to have easily fooled those who
are experts, had I wanted to."

Then in this current thread he states:

"Those few paragraphs were a month in the making. Further, I had the
help of several other people (some of whom, incidentally, work in
utilities, and who thought it was the grandest joke they'd seen in a
while..."

So, first he claims he spent about an hour familiarizing himself with
the subject (enough so as to supposedly fool the experts) then he
turns around and says that the post was a month in the making and he
had help from several people, some of which work in utilities.

Those statements are further evidence that he is a liar or that he is
so stupid that after researching the subject it took him a month to
write it plus he had to have help. I choose all of the above.

You are a manifest and confessed LIAR. What you penned as an apology
bore NO resemblance in even a minor degree to contrition. It was a
vindication speech. As amatter of fact, for anyone to see, the boasts
of what you did in here are still to be found on your web site. This
is EVIDENCE that you are not in the least apologetic any more than a
thief who claims to be sorry that he stole and yet, still keeps the
stolen property. Yup, that's Poole's brand of repentance.

Think of this, moron, no matter what I have written, right or wrong
has EVER received such a response from an ENTIRE forum. I have never
yet seen such a display of revulsion and disgust at one's behavior.

You are a lamentable and pitiable creature.

You richly deserve what you receive here. Too bad that your family
will not deserve the catstrophe becuase you refused to prepare. Let's
hear your apology to your kids, then, as you explain to them why
daddy had such a big brain.

More lies in Poole's remarks after posting a copy of this on the
Debunking forum:

Tuesday, 06-Jul-1999 21:12:52

209.214.108.12 writes:

Actually, the reason I cross-posted it here is because I don't trust
Diane Squire any farther than I could throw her. She has altered
other posts to suit her tastes, and I figured she could do the same
to mine.

In fact, she's the primary reason I had stopped spending much time
over there in the past few weeks (ie, since Yourdon left).

If I wanted to be "arrogant," "inflated" and "filled with self-
importance," I certainly wouldn't have wasted ANY time over there to
start with, because very, VERY few people take that forum seriously
to start with.

What you posted here is a non-apology that Bill Clinton himself would
be proud of. It's people like you that give Christianity such a bad
name in today's world. If I never see your name on another post on
this forum, it will be too soon.

My, my. Your apology holds as much water as the 'original' lie. Which
one was the original anyway? Lost track. Slink away Poole and take
your like-minded companions with you....your so called apology rates
right up there with, "the dog did it". So does your intellect.

Oh lookie, it's cpr....trailing soap bubbles from his ears, left over
from his time spent in the Corps. Maybe Poole will help him get those
soap shavings out of his eyebrows, better concentrate on removing the
sock from his left nostril first, Puddle-boy!

In my humble opinion, one of the most valuable quotes from your above
treatise was the following:

"I don't think you realize the depth of the disgust which exists on
the part of some people (particularly the aforementioned friends in
utility work) toward places like this forum ... and especially toward
self-appointed authorities like Lane, Rick Cowles, Roleigh Martin and
Gary North. I had to keep THAT out of it, too. They wanted me to make
the tale MORE realistic and then rub noses in it with gay abandon
after the "outing." I refused to do it. I had a fixed point to make --
and I made it in spades."

Perhaps it might be worthwhile for you to explain to the above
mentioned disgusted parties that many people who frequent this forum
are here in the hope of gaining legitimate knowledge about why (or
why not) they should take steps to protect people like their
elderly grandmothers--very likely widows living alone in the coldest
places in North America (with the dog and maybe the cat)--who can
barely SEE, let alone by candlelight.

Would your friends be willing and able to honorably come to us and
explain--in the most simple terms--why there is no reason to worry
about our grandmothers this Winter?

If they can provide sincere, educated responses they will be heard.
(Yes, indeed, on this very forum.)

Poole, please consult Miss Manners. She will enlighten you about the
customary format of the standard apology. Your mother should have
taught you that it's not an apology when one uses the words "I
apologize" merely as a springboard by which to launch into a
reiteration of grievances. If you can't say "I'm sorry" then you truly
ARE sor-ry!

You continue to excuse your antisocial behavior on the basis that it
proves that people are gullible. If people had in fact been gullible,
it would have been even less excusable. But the fact is that your hoax
was debunked immediately in both forums where it appeared. I would be
interested to know under what circumstances you would have declared
your test a failure.

Here's the thing: being prepared cannot be wrong. We are preparing for
a possibility of hard times. No matter what actually does
happen, it will always be true that there had been a possibility of
hard times. It's the stakes, not the odds.

It's OK with us if you don't choose to be prepared. Really, it is.
What's not OK with us is for you to tell us that we shouldn't
prepare. Your credibility here, as an admitted liar, is totally shot.
We also aren't likely to put much stock in your opinion in the future
when you appear under a different handle, since your ability to reason
is missing, and that just can't be fixed with a makeover.

This may well be one of the funniest threads to appear in a long time.
Mr. Poole shows you all to be fart-catching, Doomer Rubes with his
little ruse. Does he receive a thank-you for pointing out the obvious?
Of course not. The Doomer micro-brain is not capable of
understanding humor.

Did the Doomer leaders (Milne and North) swallow this hoax? Hook
line and sinker. Are any Doomers now examining the intellectual
veracity of said naive leaders? No - they attack Poole instead.
Anyone surprised? Not me...

"... I believe we'll start seeing [disruptions] by this summer, and I
believe they'll continue for at
least a year. As many people are now aware, 46
states (along with Australia and New Zealand)
will begin their 1999-2000 fiscal year on July 1,
1999; New York (and Canada) will already
have gone through their Y2K fiscal rollover on
April 1, and the remaining three states begin
their new fiscal year on August 1, September 1, and
October 1. We also have the GPS rollover
problem to look forward to on August 22nd, as well
as the Federal government's new fiscal
year on October 1st.

There is, of course, some finite probability that
all of these rollover events will occur without
any problems; but there's also a finite probability
that pigs will learn to fly."

For the record, I am not enthralled with Mr. Poole's hoax. You can
find my thoughts posted on Debunker. Furthermore, this thread was
his apology... dragging me into it is just more gratuitious personal
attacks. In point of fact, I am one of the few posters who has the
backbone to challenge BOTH optimists and pessimists. This forum
would greatly enhance its credibility and value if more individuals
considered arguments on their merits... and not on the personality of
the author.

I once had some respect for your opinions, now I fail to see why.
You, in your high and mighty infinite wisdom, yelled "Fire" in a
crowded theater full of nervous people. Then you gloated when a few
of them acted instinctively and twitched. To what end? To save us
from ourselves?

No thanks. I'll take the laughter of all of society for my
preparations before I'll listen to a sanctimonious group of self-
interested morons like you and the pricks at DeBS site. You make me
embarrassed to consider myself a Christian.

You are no better than Poole. You too lack any sense of decency
regarding truth, integrity, morality, or ethics. I think we all knew
that about you anyway, but it is enlightening to have you spell it
all out so clearly with your above psychopathic post. I'm sure Poole
loves you like a bosom buddy. You deserve each other.

Another good thread NOT to read. Amen!. I was foolish enough to read the silly apology and even sillier to read the pissing contest that everyone suited up for. God God, all of you remind me of frat rats in college; one fraternity insults in another, and then in a fit of righteous indignation, they all go over to the piss on the offending fraternity's lawn. As this goofiness progresses, they think up more insulting ways of retaliating, and saving their honor.

I've never read one of Poole's posts until today. I was curious to see what all this apology business was about. I'm sorry I looked.

I've never been to this forum nor have i ever responded in a forum of
this sort. I am preparing for a MAJOR disruption in society at the
turn of the century and have to-date, spent better than $30000.00 on
my prepping.(Including having a well dug at a considerable cost).
However, i felt inclined to respond to all this and put in mky two-
cents. I don't know who Y2K-Pro is but apparently most, if not all of
you in this forum, don't like him/her. But he/she makes a good point,
i'm sorry to say, and that is, i've been looking for something to
validate all of my preparations to my friends and family. They think
i'm off my rocker! I have spent literally hundreds of hours on the
net and am convinced of big problems but on the dates that we are
suppossed to see these problems, the "guns" who we have put some
faith in can't seem to give us clear answers as to why nothing
"Big" has happened yet. Is this what it will be like on 01/01/2000? I
am NOT afraid of looking foolish because i can use virtually all of
what i have purchased but my credibility for anything later on in
life will be shot. i read them all everyday; Hyatt, Y2knewsire,
hamasaki, north, westergaard, cowles, martin, lord, yourdon(not any
more), beach, etc., all far more intelligent than myself, but thus
far, nothing earth shattering. So, here i am. not looking for
TEOTWAKI, but, what?

"I am the Rush Limbaugh of Y2K; I shine the light of truth on
ignorance and have fun while I do it."

That's your whole problem in a nutshell. Every utterance from the
fat mouth of Rush Limbaugh is an outright lie, and if you can't tell
the difference then it's no wonder people hate you. You might be
having fun doing this, but keep in mind you are talking about the
possibility of real danger to our lives - asshole!